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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Saldenah 2013 band launch Heaven & Earth (The Stage)

Last night was the 2013 band Launch for Heaven & Earth.

There were 16 sections and many beautiful costumes. Saldenah masqueraders will be very happy.

The presentation thankfully started before 1 am and they spent a solid hour on stage. We appreciated that they didn't rush through showing the costumes, they took their time. Most of the models looked like they enjoyed themselves.

Sandstorm

This truly massive creation closed the show. It's quite delicate and might need its own security detail for the road. Princess of the Gates are certainly spectacular looking mas, very impressive. The model often held the headpiece, she probably wasn't sure it was securely balancing in place.

Angel of Beauty

Heaven's Bliss

I'm wowed by Angel of Beauty's devlish angel for being bold, giving us a different look in a costume. Great moving wings, sexy cut out leg and arm wear and gold chains falling from the bejeweled choker.
My favourite colour combo is Heaven's Bliss, the coral & teal together is so stunning. Soft pretty heart shaped wings.

Water Spirit

Fallen Angel

I like all the options in Fallen Angel, and the models wore them very well.

Tidal Wave

Eternity

Eternity's lavender and mauve are lovely with those rhinestones, crystals and tiaras. I prefer the medium size collar and the headpiece.

Volcanic Eruption

Utopia

Arch Angels

Autumn Spectacle

Sunset in Paradise

Sunset in Paradise's fun deep plum suit base with assorted beads jewels reminds me of a tropical fruit bowl, and then together with that frontline headpiece you've got a Carmen Miranda feel. I'm more drawn though to the backline with the fringe, and jeweled headband/crown.

Rainforest

Absolutely LOVE the suit in Rainforest, that fringe is perfect for playing mas, and it's another colour combination I really like. Nicely designed wrap around headpiece. Added bonus: it glows in the dark.

Spirit of the Earth

Ronny has designed another fun colourful section in Spirit of the Earth. Men are never an after thought, he gives their costume as much attention with head ware and masks. And as Trini-in-Toronto says, guys like weapons.

Aurora Borealis

Sunset in the Nile

Princess of the Gates

While there are some colour combination repeats that we've often seen, several sections were designed with at least one different element. Most sections displayed gave options in the suits and/or bras, and bottoms, and varying sizes in headpieces.

This has been my favorite launch so far. Tribal gave us familiar styles that were pretty, CN gave us crazy headpieces. And Saldenah has given us ART. I'm still playing with Tribal but had I not already signed up, there's a few sections in Saldenah that would've gotten my money for sure.

yeah boy, it took really long to scroll to the bottom of this post to leave a comment, so I thank anyone who took the time. In case you were wondering what pwnage meant (I wasn't sure if it was a complement or insult... this is courtesy urban dictionary:

verb: A term used to express one's act or state of elite preformance. Pwnage stems from the word "pwn" which is a typographical error of the word "own". The "p" replaces the "o" because during the frenzy of gaming, the player has no time to correct any spelling mistakes. This word is traditionally used by experienced videogamers, "leet" speakers and others involved in computer minded social or work groups."I played Halo 2 online today. I had 24 cosecutive kills... it was pownage like never before"

Beautiful pictures as usual and thanks for the explanation of "pwnage". I disagree only because there is a uniformity missing. The costumes are beautiful but some sections clearly outclass others. The 3 "angel" and 2 "sunset" sections irks me a bit. Section names are part of the creative process and I think they slacked. I can't wait to see those huge headpieces and wings on the road. The way stormers treat big costumes I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed on a truck after the stage. I really like the Men's Spirit of the Earth face mask. Also those pink arm/leg wraparound pieces are so different. I'm sticking with CNz, but I can't lie one section almost had me, ALMOST not quite.

My bad, I'm such a geek sometimes. I agree that some costumes are lack luster compared to others, but as a whole this band has it all in my opinion. The first two band launches look almost the same, nationz had some nice costumes but I'm not a fan of big headpieces, never had a good experience with them and the one section I liked was sold out. Saldenah's have a lot of variety, and even the men's costumes had something to offer. Their costumes are different looking from the rest, surprisingly and like nationz have many options for your costumes. I was looking for something different and so far Saldenah has it. I was impressed with almost all of their costumes. I'm well aware some of the designs aren't theirs, and have similarities to some Trinidad costumes but overall I'm impressed.

Prices doesn't really have a cut and dry answer. For the normal back line costume you might see a spread of about $60 between the most expensive band and the least expensive one. But then you would be comparing the services provided, and the parade position afforded to one of the larger bands, with the intimacy of a smaller band and a later start time. You know, its not unusual for a band or two not to make it onto the route before the cops lock it down? I don't want to overly influence your decision, but you say its your first time, so you need to talk to people who played before. The bigger bands have very similar pricing for the basics, when you add front line and other extras you might see some bands demand more of a premium than others. Remember they say, good ting no cheap and...

Prices vary depending on the band and type of costume you are wanting to get. A lot bands are now offering customizable options where you can get the frontline look with a backline costume. As for prices Saldenah's prices should be up tomorrow, Tribal Knights prices are also out on their websites and same with Nationz. Always check the websites.

my daughter's kiddie carnival costume we paid $65 and got half the costume because they couldn't finish it all. No one in that section had full costumes... it's ridiculous... complete highway robbery...

You pay good money for them NOT to give you the full costume and not to have anything fit properly and then for the section leader to tell me that the arm bands and leg bands were complementary...

Buublenut, Megan & Karabana at Caribana 2007!

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